This 100% open-source terminal is insane… just watch
This video demonstrates CMAX, a native Swift macOS terminal built on libghostty, and shows how to run multiple CLI coding agents in parallel using its workspace/pane/surface model and an orchestrator-agent pattern driven through a CMAX skill.
David Ondrej25 minTranscript found
Quick learning frame
Read this before watching.
Creative automation uses agents to accelerate production while keeping human taste in story, pacing, selection, and critique.
New playlist item from David Ondrej; queued for transcript-backed review, topic mapping, and a practical learning artifact.
Skill you build: Setting up and operating CMAX to run and orchestrate several AI coding agents (Claude Code, Codex, Pi, Hermes) at once on macOS via keyboard shortcuts and a single orchestrator agent.
Watch for the shift from claim to mechanism. The learning value is the point where the transcript reveals a repeatable action, tool boundary, context move, review habit, or artifact.
Concept diagram
Where this video fits.
01Brief
02Source
03Generation
04Selection
05Edit
06Taste Review
Deep lesson
Turn this video into working knowledge.
5,036 cleaned transcript words reviewed across 1,384 timed caption segments.
Thesis
This 100% open-source terminal is insane… just watch teaches a practical creative automation move: This video demonstrates CMAX, a native Swift macOS terminal built on libghostty, and shows how to run multiple CLI coding agents in parallel using its workspace/pane/surface model and an orchestrator-agent pattern driven through a CMAX skill.
The goal is not to remember the video. The goal is to extract the operating principle, tie it to timestamped evidence, test how far the claim transfers, and make something reusable.
1:25
What CMAX Is
“Oh, and it also works with any CLI agent. So whether that's Cloud Code, whether that is Codex, whether that is PI agent or whether that is Hermes agent, all of them are supported by CMAX. And by...”
CMAX is a native macOS (Swift, not Electron) terminal built on libghostty that reuses Ghostty's GPU text rendering and adds sidebars, splits, multiple workspaces, and an integrated browser tailored for running AI agents. Download CMAX from cmax.com, open it, and run 'cmax welcome' to see the keyboard-shortcut reference it ships with.
9:51
Workspaces, Panes, Surfaces
“solution we have right now for running multiplayer agents in parallel. So this is why I'm so excited about it. Now, here's where things go to the next level because you can use these agents such as cloud...”
CMAX organizes work into three nested concepts: workspaces (separate projects on the left, command N), panes (splits inside a workspace via command D and command shift D), and surfaces (tabs inside a pane that can be a terminal or a browser). Create a new workspace, split it into a 2x2 grid of panes by hand, then switch one pane's surface to the integrated browser and load a URL.
16:20
Agent Orchestration
“begin building a 3D web app that is for architects designing interior rooms, interior architecture. And you should split it between these three cloth code agents running in the other three panes inside of this CMAX workspace. Make...”
You talk to a single orchestrator agent loaded with a CMAX skill so it can read other panes' screens, list workspaces, and assign tasks; it builds grids and launches Claude Code agents to split one project across multiple agents in a loop. Give an orchestrator agent the CMAX skill, then prompt it to build a 2x2 grid, launch agents in the empty panes, and divide a small web app across them while checking progress on an interval.
01
Brief
Start with this video's job: This video demonstrates CMAX, a native Swift macOS terminal built on libghostty, and shows how to run multiple CLI coding agents in parallel using its workspace/pane/surface model and an orchestrator-agent pattern driven through a CMAX skill. Treat "Brief" as the outcome you are trying to make visible, not a topic label. Anchor it to 1:25, where the video says: “Oh, and it also works with any CLI agent. So whether that's Cloud Code, whether that is Codex, whether that is PI agent or whether that is Hermes agent, all of them are supported by CMAX. And by...”
02
Source
Use "Source" to locate the part of the creative automation workflow the video is demonstrating. Ask what changes in your real setup if this claim is true. Anchor it to 9:51, where the video says: “solution we have right now for running multiplayer agents in parallel. So this is why I'm so excited about it. Now, here's where things go to the next level because you can use these agents such as cloud...”
03
Generation
Turn "Generation" into the reusable artifact for this lesson: A creative workflow board with critique criteria and review checkpoints. This is where watching becomes something you can inspect and reuse.
04
Selection
Use "Selection" as the application surface. Decide whether the idea touches a browser flow, a local file, a model choice, a source document, a UI, or a review step.
05
Edit
Use "Edit" to prove the lesson. The evidence should connect back to the video title, transcript anchors, and a concrete output, not a generic best-practice claim.
06
Taste Review
Use "Taste Review" to carry the idea forward: save the prompt, checklist, diagram, or operating rule that would make the next agent run better.
Example
Source-backed work packet
Convert the video into a scoped task that includes the transcript claim, target workflow, acceptance criteria, and proof. The output should be a creative workflow board with critique criteria and review checkpoints..
Example
Claim vs. demo brief
Separate what the speaker claims, what the demo actually proves, and what still needs outside verification before you adopt the workflow.
Example
Teach-back module
Transform the lesson into a definition, a mechanism diagram, one misconception, one practice exercise, and a check-for-understanding question.
Do not learn it wrong
Treating the title as the lesson without checking what the transcript actually says.
Letting the prompt drift into generic advice that could apply to any video in the playlist.
Copying the tool setup without identifying the operating principle that transfers to your own stack.
Skipping the artifact, which means the learning never becomes operational or inspectable.
Do not count this as learned until these are true.
01
State the transcript-backed claim in your own words: This video demonstrates CMAX, a native Swift macOS terminal built on libghostty, and shows how to run multiple CLI coding agents in parallel using its workspace/pane/surface model and an orchestrator-agent pattern driven through a CMAX skill.
02
Explain the practical stakes without hype: New playlist item from David Ondrej; queued for transcript-backed review, topic mapping, and a practical learning artifact.
03
Map the idea onto the Brief -> Source -> Generation -> Selection -> Edit -> Taste Review sequence and name the weakest link.
04
Produce the artifact and include the evidence that proves it: A creative workflow board with critique criteria and review checkpoints.
Put it into practice
Give this grounded prompt to Codex or Claude after watching.
You are helping me turn one specific YouTube video into real, durable learning.
Source video:
- Title: This 100% open-source terminal is insane… just watch
- URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jDXI4_rJOE
- Topic: Creative Automation
- My current learning frame: Install CMAX, then prompt one orchestrator agent with the CMAX skill to spin up a 2x2 grid of agents and split a simple MVP web app's development across the three other panes, polling their progress until it builds.
- Why this matters: New playlist item from David Ondrej; queued for transcript-backed review, topic mapping, and a practical learning artifact.
Transcript anchors from this exact video:
- 1:25 / Evidence 1: "Oh, and it also works with any CLI agent. So whether that's Cloud Code, whether that is Codex, whether that is PI agent or whether that is Hermes agent, all of them are supported by CMAX. And by..."
- 7:30 / Evidence 2: "another big deal because most apps have pretty notification systems, but inside of CMAX, this is different. For example, I can ask cloud code list out all skills you have. Then I can go into a different uh..."
- 9:51 / Evidence 3: "solution we have right now for running multiplayer agents in parallel. So this is why I'm so excited about it. Now, here's where things go to the next level because you can use these agents such as cloud..."
- 12:23 / Evidence 4: "one agent right whatever agent you prefer could be Hermes agent could be pi like I'm doing right now could be cloud code could be codex could be agent zero whatever you prefer and that agent will be..."
- 16:20 / Evidence 5: "begin building a 3D web app that is for architects designing interior rooms, interior architecture. And you should split it between these three cloth code agents running in the other three panes inside of this CMAX workspace. Make..."
- 20:24 / Evidence 6: "means launching multiple different dynamic workflows with dozens or sometimes even hundreds of sub agents in there So be it. What is the result of it? The result of this is absolutely incredible. So I have this uh..."
- 21:58 / Evidence 7: "ultra code right here and it has all these fancy graphics I don't know it feels very like um bread and circuses from enthropic but listen this feature can build okay this was built in a single single..."
Your task:
1. Use the transcript anchors above as the primary source packet. If you add outside context, label it clearly as outside context and keep it secondary.
2. Create a source-check table with columns: timestamp, claim, what the demo proves, confidence, and what still needs verification.
3. Extract the actual teachable claims from the video. Do not invent claims that are not supported by the title, lesson frame, or transcript anchors.
4. Build a reusable learning artifact: A creative workflow board with critique criteria and review checkpoints.
5. Include:
- a plain-English definition of the core idea
- a diagram or structured model using this sequence: Brief -> Source -> Generation -> Selection -> Edit -> Taste Review
- 3 concrete examples that apply the video idea to real agentic work
- 2 failure modes the video helps prevent
- a checklist I can use the next time I run Codex or Claude
- one practical exercise with a clear done signal
6. Add a "learning transfer" section: what changes in my workflow tomorrow if I actually learned this?
7. Add a "source check" section that cites which transcript anchor supports each major takeaway.
Quality bar:
- Make this specific to "This 100% open-source terminal is insane… just watch", not a generic Creative Automation essay.
- Prefer operational examples, failure modes, and reusable artifacts over broad definitions.
- Call out uncertainty instead of smoothing over weak evidence.
- If evidence is weak, say what transcript segment or timestamp needs review instead of guessing.
- Finish with a concise artifact I could paste into my learning app.
Misconceptions
What to stop believing.
Creative AI removes the need for taste.
It increases the need for taste because output volume explodes.
The best prompt is enough.
References, critique, iteration, and post-production matter just as much.
Practice studio
Learning only counts when you make something.
01
Transcript evidence map
Separate what the video actually says from what you already believe about the topic.
3 source-backed takeaways with timestamps, confidence, and a transfer note.02
One useful artifact
Apply the video to a real workflow and produce a creative workflow board with critique criteria and review checkpoints..
A reusable artifact with a done signal and one verification step.03
Teach-back card
Explain the lesson to someone who has not watched the video yet.
A 90-second explanation, one diagram, one example, and one misconception to avoid.
Recall check
Answer first, then reveal — without rewatching.
CMAX didn't build its terminal engine from scratch. What does it reuse, and what is the language/architecture choice that makes it fast?
Define CMAX's three nested organizing concepts—workspaces, panes, and surfaces—and give the key shortcut or capability of each.
In David's orchestration setup, how does the single orchestrator agent know how to control CMAX, and what does it do in a loop to coordinate the other agents?
Source shelf
Use the video as a doorway, then verify with primary sources.